The Lord will send his people a child
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy; they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
Joy comes with the dawning of the light. But the light would not dawn on the generation of Isaiah’s day. It would come in the future. Before the light would shine, both Israel and Judah would experience the judgment of God for their unbelief and rebellion. Assyria would devour and assimilate Israel; Babylon would carry Judah away captive as a prize of war.
God’s people would be devastated, but a remnant would remain and return. In comparison to the nation during Isaiah’s day, the remnant would be small, but God’s plan would enlarge the nation. When the light dawned, God’s people would include not only those of Jewish heritage and culture but believers from all nations. For example, Paul’s work among the Gentiles enlarged the nation. It was only the beginning. When he and Barnabas reported that the Gentiles had been converted, the writer of Acts observed, “This news made all the brothers very glad” (15:3). The expansion of God’s people has continued through the centuries to include races of people Isaiah could never have known except through the miracle of inspiration.
Isaiah used two comparisons for the joy of God’s people regarding the growing number of converts. The first was the joy at the harvest; the second was the joy at the end of battle when the enemy has been thoroughly defeated. In both cases, a long and difficult effort had come to an end. The harvest was over and the crop gathered; the battle was over, the enemy defeated, and it was time to divide the plunder. It was time for celebration. The two pictures fit well with an agricultural nation that has endured its share of invasions.
Both comparisons also emphasize the grace of God. While the workers sweat to bring in the harvest, they have done nothing to cause the crop to grow and mature. That only God can do. He sends rain and sunshine. In the other comparison, Isaiah cites the day of Midian’s defeat. With three hundred men, Gideon defeated an army of Midianites and their allies, which the writer of Judges describes as “thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore” (7:12). God had sifted the Israelite army from 32,000 to 300 so that the victory could clearly be one that God gave to his people. It was a gift of his grace, not the result of their own strength and strategy.
The victory would be thorough, and the joy it produced would be great. God would shatter the oppressor’s power. However, this is not a military victory achieved with armies and weapons of war. The peace implied is not the end of warfare on the face of the earth. Even if we destroyed all the weapons of war, we still would not alter the cause of strife and discord among people—the sinful human heart. This graphic picture of victory is a symbolic description of the spiritual victory God would give his people through the Messiah, the child that Isaiah will describe a little later. Sin, death, and Satan oppress all of mankind, but the Lord would graciously shatter their power and defeat them completely. The root cause of strife would be eliminated. Such a victory is impossible for any and all human effort. It can come only as the gift of a gracious God. And God describes in the next verses how it will happen.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Here is the reason for all the joy—the new great King. By the miracle of prophecy, Isaiah describes Immanuel in greater detail. He is a child, echoing Isaiah’s earlier announcement of the virgin’s son. God gives his people (“to us”) a child, the ultimate reason for joy. How can a child bring such joy? He is not just another child born on earth; this child is someone special and unusual. His coming is tied to all the prophecies of his work. Isaiah’s prophecy gives us a clear and complete picture of the Savior and his work, providing vivid details that are still treasured by God’s people. He wrote seven hundred years before Christ. Two thousand years after Christ, we still turn to the words God gave Isaiah as we celebrate the coming of the child in Bethlehem.
Many commentators have dodged the meaning of this passage. They cannot believe that Isaiah could have given such a clear picture of the incarnation of Christ. The attempts to empty this passage of its value, however, cannot change the words. If we allow the words to speak for themselves, believers will find comfort in the grace of God that sent his Son to us so that we might believe in him and have everlasting life.
First, the child will have the government on his shoulders. He will have all power in heaven and earth in order to govern, protect, sustain, and control all things. Jesus claims such authority and power (Matthew 28:18), and the New Testament repeatedly asserts the Savior’s claim. But a carpenter’s son with all power? Clearly, this is not a reference to the worldly power one might find in the Roman Empire at the time of Christ. Christ’s kingdom was not of this world, as he asserted to Pilate (John 18:36). Yet Isaiah’s description here asserts the deity of the child, just as the names given to the child do. Remember Isaiah’s vision in chapter 6. There he saw the Lord Almighty on a throne in the temple. These words expand that vision a bit.
The child will also be a wonder. He will be extraordinary, a marvel, a miracle beyond what any human might think or imagine. He will exceed what is possible for any human child. This child is God and man in one special extraordinary person—a wonder, a miracle! We cannot fathom the mystery of the child who is almighty God and at the same time a little child born of a virgin. We can only stand in awe of the miracle of God in human flesh with us and among us.
Some tie the word counselor to the word wonderful, making it one concept, “Wonderful Counselor.” Others separate the words to mean two separate things, Wonderful and Counselor. The NIV footnote gives the second alternative. But the variation does not alter the comfort we find in the passage. In either case, the child is a counselor. He does not need to surround himself with advisors as every human ruler does. He already knows all things. His counsel, or advice, is the grace of God, the plan by which God would rescue all the world from sin, death, and the devil. Luther rightly says that his counsel is his Word. By the counsel of his Word, the Messiah has directed believers throughout the centuries.
If there was any question about whether or not this child is God, the next title dispels it completely. He is called “Mighty God.” Here other commentators raise questions about the deity of the Messiah, but the words chosen by Isaiah tell us clearly that he is true God. The words translated here as “Mighty God” are the same words used in the next chapter when Isaiah says, “A remnant . . . will return to the Mighty God” (10:21). In that passage the reference is clearly to the supreme God of Israel, the Holy One of Israel. This title is attributed only to the Lord, the true God. That leaves us no excuse for denying that the Messiah would be not only man, a child, but also God, Mighty God.
The child is also “Everlasting Father,” which refers to the work and business of this king, not his person. He continues to beget children as he leads more and more people to believe in him. Faith makes people God’s children, as Paul wrote to both gentile and Jewish Christians in Rome (Romans 4:16). And what’s more, this child always had the heart of a father toward his own people. He cares for his followers tenderly, faithfully, and wisely.
Finally, the child is the “Prince of Peace.” How humanity has longed for peace through the ages! Peace, in human terms, will always be elusive. As long as the world endures, there will be war, rumors of wars, discord, and strife (Matthew 24:4-7). The Messiah came to give a different kind of peace. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). His peace is tied to his work of redemption. He satisfied the justice of God, which demanded payment for sin. He offered himself as the atoning sacrifice for sin.
We are at peace with God through Jesus. That peace “transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). We long for the wrong peace if we only desire the death and destruction of war to cease. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, has restored peace with God. He has removed what caused all discord, strife, and war—sin. His peace is greater than anything we might imagine. And it is beyond anything that anyone else could ever achieve. His peace became a reality when he appeared, but perfect peace does not exist where sin is present. We must wait until he returns and purges our sinful nature for perfect peace. Nevertheless, that does not diminish the truth that he is the Prince of Peace now.
The King whom Isaiah pictured here is an eternal one whose kingdom will never end. The coming of this child fulfills the promise given to David that the Messiah would come and reign forever (1 Chronicles 17:11-14). So Jesus has come and by his suffering, death, and resurrection has declared all the world right, or just, in the eyes of God. The world is justified and righteous because Christ’s blood cleanses us of all sin. This has already occurred for us in the New Testament era. We do not wait for it to come in the future. We distort the passage if we make this kingdom some kind of earthly kingdom of justice and righteousness that is yet to come. A hope for such a millennium is empty and cannot be based on the words of Isaiah or on any of Scripture. No, the Messiah laid down his life to establish his kingdom, and he will reign as King on David’s throne “from that time on and forever.”
Isaiah assures the people of his day that it will happen as he described it. The Lord of hosts stands behind these prophecies. His zeal will not waver. Before it happened, Isaiah’s readers may have wondered if it would ever happen. Their homes would be destroyed. Men, women, and children would die at the hand of invading armies. The survivors would be led away captive to Babylon. Yet it would happen as foretold. God said so and stood behind his words.